2 Reasons To Receive Psychological Testing From A Neurodiversity-affirming Psychologist

The world of psychology wasn’t always this way: affirming the odd-person-out, or claiming strengths in what society perceives as weakness. But, 70-plus years into the field of autism research, the tides are beginning to shift. Today, according to a Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology study “the neurodiversity movement (is) shift(ing) how autistic experience is viewed” in schools, psychological testing and research, and society.

At its core, the neurodiversity movement, embraces diversity through “the lens of different neurological ways of being (ibid).” Instead of being odd, or rejected, or made to conform to be like everyone else, today’s neurodivergent population (like me) are instead affirmed and included—the way my mind works is seen as “a distinct way of being in the world, as worthy as any other (ibid).”

Did you catch that? The way your mind works—whether you are neurotypical or neurodivergent (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc.)—is as worthy as any other. These are my beliefs, and the foundation from which I conduct comprehensive psychological testing. 

Here are my top 2 reasons why I believe neurodiversity-affirming psychological testing is a better approach out there today than in the past.

1.     Neurodiversity-affirming testing appreciates the unique profile of every human being

No two fingerprints are alike. Same could be said of snowflakes and human minds. You are unique. There is no one else like you. As many minds as I’ve tested, I’ve never seen and will never see another like yours.

How you see yourself and name yourself is of great importance to me. I treat all of my clients with the utmost respect. Naturally, it follows, that in neurodiversity-affirming psychological testing, any neurodevelopmental differences that I identify within my clients are viewed as a healthy and vibrant (and I would even say: essential) part of human diversity, necessary for human flourishing—I do not perceive these neurodevelopmental differences as failures and weaknesses to be fixed, corrected, or discarded. 

2.     Neurodiversity-affirming testing is holistic and comprehensive

I don’t test for autism in isolation. My autism testing is one part of a comprehensive psychological testing approach in which I look at your entire life. I utilize my autistic strengths of being detail-oriented, thorough, systematizing to distinguish between commonly misdiagnosed patterns (e.g., such as autism and OCD, autism and ADHD, etc. My process includes an extensive intake appointment as well as administering a variety of assessments to examine intelligence, personality, mood, neurodivergence, subtsance use, etc. I then perform a diagnostic interview to tease out what is really going on, while making several collateral calls to learn about what others who know you well have observed about you. Finally, I provide a feedback session and comprehensive report (typically 20-30) pages identifying your strengths, challenges, how your challenges show up in the real world and next steps/recommendations moving forward. I want to make sure you have an accurate and comprehensive understanding of your brain, so you know how to best navigate life in the future.